Preservation Exhibit at NIU

With Preservation Month just around the corner we have put together a Preservation Exhibit here at NIU that covers both physical and digital preservation. We would like you to see a little preview of what has come together, and in the future we hope to also adapt the exhibit into an online version. We’ll keep you updated. ; )

This is the exhibit introduction poster…

The first case focuses on physical preservation. It discusses and shows some of the tools and strategies that archivists can use to help preserve paper (and other physical) materials.

The second case includes two “tales”. One is a Tale of 2 Artifacts discussing the Dead Sea Scrolls, which have been preserved as much as possible, and the ’96 Election Website for Clinton, which has not been preserved and most of what remains is an image of the homepage. The second tale is a Tale of 2 Generations, 1913 and 2013, the individuals from 1913 have journals and photos that have been preserved, but do the individuals of today know how to save their Facebook profiles and the like so that future generations can learn about them?

The third case explains what can happen to digital objects and files over time, and thus why they need to be preserved with care. Specifically it explains hardware obsolescence, software obsolescence, and bit-level deterioration.

The last case includes personal preservation tips (top) and explains what is going on at NIU concerning digital preservation (bottom).

The last piece of our exhibit is a poster that gives a little bit more information about our Digital POWRR research project. Here is a digital version…

Are you doing something to share or celebrate Preservation Month? Tell us about it in the comments!